MiO Liquid Water Enhancers Review - (All Original Flavors)

Updated Review Date: 06/15/2017Original Review Date: 07/17/2013

Today we're going to look at an interesting new sugar free drink product called MiO from Kraft Foods, which is a liquid flavoring concentrate that you simply add to whatever liquid you want to flavor. Original MiO is currently available in the following 10 flavors: Strawberry Watermelon, Fruit Punch, Lemonade, Berry Grape, Berry Pomegranate, Cranberry Raspberry, Sweet Tea, Blueberry Lemonade, Mango Peach, Cherry Blackberry. You can find all 10 original flavors of MiO at Amazon. Besides the awesome taste (and it really is good enough to be called awesome) you get the ultimate in flavor control since it's you that determines the flavor potency of your drink. And the positive features keep going as all of these original flavors of MiO are carbohydrate free, caffeine free, calorie free and are naturally flavored. Since MiO is sugar free and considered a "free" food in the food exchange system, MiO is both diabetic-friendly and a great alternative for anyone watching their weight or sugar intake that doesn't want to sacrifice flavor in the process.
MiO Liquid Water Enhancer is available in convenient 1.62 oz. squirt bottles that can fit into a pocket and will flavor up to twenty four 8oz. servings of water or whatever you decide to add it to. I was curious to see if the squirt bottle design would have any leakage issues under normal use, like forgetting that you put it in your back pocket and then sitting down, so I tested that idea out. I'm happy to report that a 180 pound man sitting on a bottle of MiO will not pop the top open and make a mess (at least it didn't for me). The flavors tested in this review were Cherry Blackberry, Berry Pomegranate, Strawberry Watermelon, Sweet Tea, and Fruit Punch.
Over the past few years MiO has become so popular that the product lineup has expanded to include three new categories (electrolytes, energy and vitamins) in addition to the original flavors. The newer categories of MiO will be reviewed in the near future.
So now that you have a better idea about what MiO is, let's take a look at the details, ingredients and then see how it scores as an overall product.

Nutrition Information for MiO Liquid Water Enhancers (All Original Flavors)

The nutrition information between all original flavors of MiO is the same. Per 1/2 teaspoon serving, each flavor of MiO lists the following information on the backside of the package:

Calories: 0
Sodium: 0mg
Sugars: 0g
Carbohydrates: 0g
Total Fat: 0g

Ingredients of MiO Liquid Water Enhancers (All Original Flavors)

All original flavors of MiO have essentially the same major ingredients, but there are some differences in the benign minor ingredients (2% or less) between a few flavors listed below:

The Scorecard for MiO Liquid Water Enhancers (All Original Flavors)

Based on a rating system of 4 total points, MiO scores as follows in each category:

Taste: The 5 flavors of MiO re-tested are still the tastiest sugar free drinks I've reviewed so far. The use of sucralose and acesulfame-K left no aftertaste at all for the other three taste testers or me, but I did have little trouble tasting the difference between Fruit Punch and Strawberry Watermelon at first. These MiO concentrates have quickly become my personal favorite. Your taste buds may or may not agree, but I have a feeling that MiO will also become one of your favorite sugar free drinks. (A big +1)

Packaging Waste: The packaging for the squirt bottles is fully recyclable #7 plastic minus a tiny piece of plastic wrap that acts as the safety seal. Since more than 95% of the MiO container is recyclable it gets a top score here, which is rare for most products. (+1)

Value: The value is excellent with MiO as you get 24 servings for about the same price as 10 On The Go packets (20 servings) from competing sugar free drink products. (+1)

Health Factor: All flavors are calorie free, carb free, zero sodium products, and nothing really stands out as suspect in the ingredients. Although some of you might be wondering about the potassium sorbate as a preservative in many of the flavors, have no worries, as potassium sorbate is as benign as table salt and has about the same toxicity level. If you need to use a preservative in a product to protect natural flavors, this is as good of a choice as Tocopherols (Vitamin E) from a health standpoint. In regard to sweeteners, MiO uses sucralose and acesulfame potassium rather than aspartame, and this is a smart decision because it doesn't automatically exclude the population segment that is living with PKU or is otherwise sensitive to aspartame. The various emulsifiers/stabilizers (Polysorbate 60, Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate and Gum Arabic) found in some of the flavors are all harmless, well-tested, and USFDA approved. The Sodium Benzoate in the MiO Lemonade flavor is of no concern as there aren't any catalysts to form benzene, such as ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) or iron. I do have a minor gripe with three of the flavors though. Peach Tea, Mango Peach, and Sweet Tea all have 3 colorings, and any sugar free drink product with more than 2 colorings gets a .25 point deduction. When considering all these attributes, MiO gets a top score in the health factor category for all flavors except Peach Tea, Mango Peach, and Sweet Tea. (+1 for all flavors, +.75 for Peach Tea, Mango Peach, and Sweet Tea)

Overall Rating: A perfect 4 out of 4 with the exception of Peach Tea, Mango Peach, and Sweet Tea, which score 3.75 out of 4. The other seven original flavors of MiO Liquid Water Enhancers earn the prized Golden Cup Award for a superior sugar free product: